


messy ties and strawberry jam

by blueshirts



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Clandestine Kisses, Gryffindor!Steve, Hogwarts AU, M/M, Slytherin!Bucky, and Strawberry Jam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 08:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4297959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueshirts/pseuds/blueshirts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stupid Steve’s stupid tie was askew. Bucky glared at it, offended. Any wandering passerby might have thought he was glaring at Steve, but they’d be wrong. It was the tie that bothered Bucky. Or, rather, the way it was tied. He could tell Steve had done it wrong even from his seat all the way across the Great Hall.</p><p>(A Hogwarts AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	messy ties and strawberry jam

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [歪領帶與草莓醬](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7615648) by [abbabccd05](https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbabccd05/pseuds/abbabccd05)



Stupid Steve’s stupid tie was askew. Bucky glared at it, offended. Any wandering passerby might have thought he was glaring at Steve, but they’d be wrong. It was the  _tie_ that bothered Bucky. Or, rather, the way it was tied. He could tell Steve had done it wrong even from his seat all the way across the Great Hall. 

Just then, the boy beside Steve-- Clint, or something. Bucky didn’t know his name and didn’t care enough to find out.-- said something that must have been hilarious, because Steve threw his head back and fell into uproarious laughter. Scowling, Bucky tore his gaze away. There wasn’t enough students in the hall to muffle Steve’s laughter, though, and he was forced to endure it with or without seeing its source. 

He jabbed his knife in a pot of strawberry jam, scooped up far more than was strictly necessary, and slathered it across a slice of toast. Bucky heard Steve’s friend Sam Wilson say something, and Steve’s response, cut short with another invasive bout of laughter. Bucky aggressively tore off a piece of the toast, accidentally smearing his mouth with sweet, sticky jam.  _Why hadn’t Wilson bothered to inform Steve his tie was done wrong?_  Bucky wondered, pawing ineffectually at his mouth in an attempt to get the stickiness off.  _That’s what a_ good _friend would have done._

Bucky shook his head. What was he thinking? He didn’t care what friends of Steve Rogers did, and he certainly didn’t care about Steve Rogers. Bucky’s eyes flicked upwards, just for a moment. Steve was looking over at him, his expression unfathomable. The corner of his mouth quirked up into an ironic smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Bucky scowled, and slammed his untensils down as he rose from the bench.

“Library,” he muttered to Brock, by way of explanation. And then he fled.

Bucky Barnes wasn’t the type to run at the slightest provocation. Hell, he started fights when he was feeling antsy. But in that moment, with Steve looking at him like that, he wasn’t ashamed to run and not look back once.

+++

Bucky burst into the bathroom off the Great Hall, hands shaking. He gripped the sides of the porcelain sink, and willed himself to calm down. What had gotten into him? He was perfectly fine when he’d woken up that morning. It seemed that all it took to send him spiralling downwards was one stupid tie and a smile from one stupid Gryffindor.

“Fuck,” he hissed, and gazed up to look at himself in the mirror. 

He nearly punched his reflection. He would have, were it not for the other face in the mirror. Steve, looking scared yet determined. Bucky closed his eyes.  _This_ Steve looked wrong with that expression. Infinite courage in spite of paralyzing fear, that was the smaller Steve’s default look, to a tee.

Without turning and facing him, Bucky muttered, “What do you want?”

When he spoke, Steve’s voice sounded closer than he’d looked in the mirror. He must have moved. He seemed to be standing close behind Bucky.

“I just want to talk,” Steve said, tone placating.

The fear, the cautious tone-- as if attempting to approach to a wounded animal-- it aggravated Bucky. They didn’t used to be like this. They weren’t ever supposed to be like this, and it was no one’s fault but his own.

“Talk?” He sneered, turning around and,  _oh no_ Steve was closer than he’d thought. Bucky took a trembling breath., “Sorry, Rogers, I don’t think so. Wouldn’t want you to strain your few remaining brain cells just to hold a conversation with me.”

A vein throbbed on Steve’s temple. He didn’t look scared anymore, “Fine,  _Barnes,_ we don’t have to talk, then. But I’m not leaving until you give me  _something.”_

Bucky had only just held back a flinch at the sound of his last name coming from Steve’s mouth-- those familiar pink lips around the name that sounded more like an insult than anything else. The second part of Steve’s words only just registered, and, when it did, his mind short circuited.

“Uh,” he responded, eloquence personified, “Something.”

“Well, not just anything.” Steve amended, grinning. 

He leaned in, bracing himself on the sink Bucky had had his own hands on only moments before. He tilted his head so that he could gaze right into Bucky’s eyes. Bucky stood there, more trapped by those eyes than by the entirety of their owner. Bucky’s eyes flicked down, to those lips that had smiled and smirked and called him by his last name with vitriol when they should have been calling him  _jerk_ with fondness. His gaze went lower, and he groaned. The tie was still messed up.

Without a thought, he raised his hands to fix it, the soft exhalation of surprise from Steve going unnoticed by his one-track mind. With a one deft tug, Bucky had fixed the tie, and all was right in the world. Well, not  _all._

He’d tugged too hard, somehow, and, as a result, Steve’s mouth crashed into his. After the initial surprise, Steve chuckled softly against Bucky’s lips and leaned into the kiss, closing his eyes. Bucky reacted automatically, his hands going from Steve’s silk tie to Steve’s cornsilk hair. He felt Steve’s lips open, ever so slightly, and he took advantage. He surged forward, pressing his body flush against Steve’s and sneaking his tongue into Steve’s mouth. 

Steve made quiet sound of pleasure, then reciprocated in kind. And then, because he was Steve Rogers and never gave less than 110 percent, he nipped Bucky’s bottom lip. Bucky moaned, his fingers twisting in Steve’s hair. 

Steve was the first to pull back. He broke the kiss, only pulling away enough so he could look into Bucky’s eyes and not be cross-eyed.

“That wasn’t exactly what I meant by something,” he intoned, blue eyes twinkling.

“What?” Bucky exhaled. He’d thought...

“Although,” Steve laughed, again. And this laugh was  _way_ better than the one Clint got, or even the one his best friend Sam got. It was soft and open. A secret laugh just for Bucky, “That was way better than I ever imagined.”

Bucky, just realizing his hands were still in Steve’s hair, withdrew them. He flushed, scarlet rouge burning across his cheeks. 

To cover up how pleased he felt, Bucky quipped, “Spend a lot of time thinking about kissing me, Steve?”

“Maybe I do,” Steve grinned, and tilted his head a second time. 

Bucky felt his heart was going to beat out of his chest. Steve pressed one more chaste kiss to Bucky’s lips, then withdrew. The dazed smile on his face brewed butterflies in the pit of Bucky’s stomach.

“You taste like strawberries,” Steve said, pink tongue darting out to lick his lips. He hummed, “Thanks for the tie, and the kiss. See you around, Bucky?”

Dumbstruck, and more confused than ever, it was all Bucky could do to nod. Steve turned and walked out of the bathroom, but not before looking over his shoulder to give Bucky one last tentative smile. Bucky grinned back, weakly, and then Steve was gone.

Bucky touched the tips of his fingers to his still-tingling lips. 

“Fuck,” he whispered, smiling despite himself.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any spelling or grammar errors, I was just so excited to get this out into the world!


End file.
